California ordered by judge to turn over cannabis documents to the DEA

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A long-running dispute between the state and the government agency has come to a head

A decision regarding the recent filing of a subpoena served in California demanding information about marijuana businesses presented by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was issued by a federal court this week. The ruling orders California regulators to comply with the federal agency’s request and turn over the requested documents concerning three licensed cannabis distributors, as well as documents related to people who were associated with these businesses last year. When the agency first requested the documents, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (CBCC) refused, forcing the feds to take the matter to court.

The main reason as to why the CBCC initially denied the request had to do with the fact that the DEA did not give an adequate explanation of the relevance of those documents to an investigation. Also, state officials stated that doing so would violate state privacy laws. Therefore, the DEA filed a petition in court in which it explained how the materials were relevant to an ongoing investigation involving the possible illegal importation and transportation of marijuana oil from Mexico by certain licensees.

According to US Magistrate Judge Linda Lopez’s ruling, issued on Monday, the agency’s subpoena meets the requirements to enforce the request. “The Court finds that the United States has sufficiently established the relevancy of the subpoena to meet the ‘not especially constraining’ standard,” the judge wrote in an order. “The Court does not find that the subpoena is too indefinite or broad.” She added that those records that are being requested by the DEA “are relevant to an investigation into importation or transportation of marijuana ‘crude oil’ from Mexico by specific licensees. The Court thus finds that the subpoena and the communication between the agencies together are sufficient to establish the relevance of the requested records to the investigation.”

It is not clear yet if the CBCC is planning on appealing the judge’s decision.